


Secrets

by PineappleQueen17



Series: A Boarding School AU [1]
Category: New X-Men: Academy X, X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Boarding School, F/F, Pining, minor mentions of other characters - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-12
Updated: 2019-05-12
Packaged: 2020-03-01 16:13:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18803788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PineappleQueen17/pseuds/PineappleQueen17
Summary: Laura has an idea that will almost certainly get Cessily expelled. Cessily follows her anyways.





	Secrets

Cessily had known that it was a bad idea. 

Now she was out past curfew on a school night, and sweating like crazy. If she got expelled from a boarding school that took literal arsonists, it was going to be all Laura’s fault.

It was 10:15, room checks had been 15 minutes ago, and and lights out were at 10:30. Cessily had just finished changing into her favorite pajamas, (white with little red cherries) and was combing through her red hair, when she heard a quiet tapping on her window. Two green eyes stared out at her. She was barely able to stifle a scream before recognizing the face on the other side of the glass. Cessily rushed over to the window, and with shaky hands undid the metal latch, and pushed the white frame up, letting the muggy early September air into the room.

"What are you doing here?" she hissed. Her heartbeat was still jack-rabbiting in her chest.

"I need to show you something," Laura's voice was smooth and calm, her face expressionless. She had no right to be that calm, sitting on a pine tree branch, two stories above the ground, when the sun would set soon.

Against her better judgement, (Laura was always making Cessily do things against her better judgement) she slipped on her tennis shoes and climbed over the windowsill, onto the tree branch. She was only wearing pajama shorts, so the rugged bark scraped against thighs. She was gripping the tree so tight that her knuckles turned white; Laura was gentle as she pried Cessily's hands off the branch, so they could start moving.

Cessily's movements were slow and deliberate. But Laura moved naturally, obviously slowed downed by Cessily's inexperience, and she wondered if the other girl had done this before.

When they finally got the last few branches, still ten feet above the ground. Laura picked up a rope, (The rope, Cessily realized, that she had used to get up the tree in the first place.) She made her way down the rope in silence.

When it was Cessily's turn, she took a breath, grabbed the rope, and more or less fell down while holding onto the rope.

"Crap!" she hissed when she hit the ground with a thunk.

"Are you okay?" Laura asked, an air of uncertainty finally creeping into her voice. For the first time, Laura looked as if she might  regret this, the idea that the risks outweigh whatever she had to show Cessily. It struck Cessily as ridiculous, that Laura could climb a 2-story tree no problem, but asking people if they were okay was dangerous territory. "I'm fine," she lied, the rope burn on her hands still stinging.

They started walking in silence, Laura leading the way. She stuck to the shadows of the football field, and past the baseball dugouts. Cessily once again wondered if it had come from practice. Laura had obviously planned this excursion; she was wearing all black, and her usual choker necklace was missing. They were hidden by the deep purples and blues of dusk, the oranges and reds slipping further past the horizon. The full moon hung in the sky, with stars peppering around it. The only sound was of the rattling of leaves and the soft crunch of grass under their shoes.

During this time Cessily couldn't help herself from thinking of all the things that could wrong, and everything that would happen if they were caught. Being outside after curfew, on a Thursday night, and climbing from the second story to the first via tree, was all grounds for expulsion. But she followed Laura anyway.

The girls had met each other on the first day in August at Professor Xavier's school of Unity. The idea for the school was that both ‘troubled' and ‘gifted' students could learn side by side, the gifted students setting an example for the troubled ones. And since no one could technically tell the ‘gifted' and ‘troubled' students apart, it had the unique advantage of sending your child away to be fixed, without publicly acknowledging anything was wrong. It was fiercely debated whether Professor. Xavier knew that this eventually would happen and make bank off of it, or she was oblivious to those consequences. 

Another advantage of Xavier's, was that it gave students a chance to start over. If you once accidently burnt down your parents carriage house, or got caught selling weed to the school's debate team, it didn't matter. As far as everyone else was concerned, everyone was a gifted leader, there to set the best example. It didn't matter how many skeletons you had in your closet.

Ironically enough, it was a different type of closet that brought Cessily, to Xavier's. Her parent's real estate company kept the perfect image of a lovely, wholesome family. They were the epitome of non-controversial. Unfortunately, a bisexual daughter brought some uncomfortable realities a bit too close to home.

Mr. and Mrs. Kincaid suggested that maybe she spent some time at Professor Xavier's, until this ‘phase’ would pass. Besides, they were going to Germany, to set up their branch there. They didn't want to uproot Cessily in the middle of High School, moving to a country, where she didn't speak the language. So really, wan't it best for everyone that she goes to Xavier's, where she can work through this ‘phase’ of hers and help those less fortunate than her?

Having her parents tell her it was a phase crushed her. Cessily didn't eat for two days before her arrival and she wore sunglasses to hide her bloodshot eyes.

There she was, standing somewhere in upstate New York, after the Ferrari had pulled away, clutching her pink suitcase, alone. That's when she saw another girl, with her plain black duffel bag slung across her shoulders, standing directly in front of the steps, glaring at the building.

Cessily allowed herself to guiltily admire the girl for a moment. She had long black hair, made into a tight braid. She was wearing all black and a choker necklace. She also had wild green eyes. Not wild like a child who just had ten pixie sticks, but wild like a wolf. She was intimidatingly beautiful.

Cessily gathered her resolve, and approached the girl. "Excuse me, do- do we just walk right in?" she asked.

The girl didn't make any sound of surprise. "I believe so," was all she said.

Cessily stuck her hand out, and said, "I'm Cessily by the way," she said, giving her best smile. If the girl was still short with her after this, well, Cessily gave it her best shot, and it was the other girl's loss.

The other girl gave her a strange look, that Cessily had never placed, before taking her hand and saying "Laura." She still remembered how cool Laura's hand was even on such a blistering hot day. With that shake, the two girls turned and entered Xavier's side by side.

Ever since that first day, when anything could of happened, they have had each other's backs. But even the best of friends are entitled to their secrets. Cessily never told any of her friends at Xavier's, not even Laura, that she liked guys and girls. She tried to tell herself that it just never came up, or she knew they wouldn't be upset by it, she didn't want to make things awkward. However, she had known her parents wouldn't be upset, it might cause a ripple in their relationship, but it wouldn't destroy it. But then her parents had sent her away, and only ever sent birthday cards with a few fifties stashed inside them, and when they asked if she was "feeling okay" there was a weight that felt suffocating on her chest.

But it was okay, because she had Julian, Sooraya, Santo, and Laura now. Even when she hated them she still loved them. And the teachers were great too! Even when Ms. Frost assigned extra homework and Mr. Howlett and Mr. Summers fought in front of the entire school. They were all her family now. So even though she knew they would support her if she came out, there was a tiny voice reminding her she couldn't afford to lose another family, this was her second chance.

So her skeletons stayed in their closet, and she let Laura keep hers, even when Cessily started to fall in love. It was the small things; the way Laura always ran as fast as she could during baseball games, even though she wasn’t the slightest bit interested in them. It was when Mr. Howlett or Ms. Frost were being too strict, and Laura felt they were being unfair on certain students, so she would set her shoulders like mountains and fight them on it. It was the way on movie nights and everyone was watching Pinocchio in the rec room and she would get the tiniest smile on her face. Cessily didn’t expect Laura to like her back, and it was never something she was going to pursue, but she allowed herself to wish.

Only a few glimmers of sunlight left when they reached the oak trees that marked the perimeter of the school grounds. The trek had given Cessily a thick layer of sweat on her forehead. She dropped to the forest floor as soon as Laura stopped. She rested her head against a tree trunk and closed her eyes.

A part of her wished that today Laura would just say, "I like you," In her usual, blunt way. Nothing flashy, and no evidence of doubt, just plain old Laura.

"So, what did you want to show me?" There was a pause, that continued for too long. Cessily gave a deep sigh. "You did not just drag me out here, in this heat, at night, for no reason. Or, to be more specific, if you did I will kill you. No one will ever know."

More silence.

She snapped her eyes open. "Seriously, Laura, what's going..."

The sun had completely set, and where Laura had been moments before, a wolf with green eyes was instead.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you all enjoyed this! If you liked this premise and stuff, I'm working on more stories in this AU. Also, credit to my creative writing class for prompting me to write this story, and proofreading this work.


End file.
